


Heartsongs and Heartbreak

by cockabeetle, Jaseish (Kymopoleia)



Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Mephisto is probably making a mistake, Rating might change but for now its safe, but we knew that already, heartsong AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 04:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cockabeetle/pseuds/cockabeetle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kymopoleia/pseuds/Jaseish
Summary: Iris had gone to the park to secretly walk Rosie- c'mon, even plants need a good dose of sunlight sometimes- when she'd heard something that... well, if she were to describe it honestly, it resonated  in her. She heard a noise that felt like she had suddenly found out she were only half of something, just in time to be made whole again. She accidentally drops Rosie's leash as she wanders toward it, ending up peering through some bushes to the water's edge where... some boy was standing and humming, head nodding. What?Mephisto started playing with the pitch of his voice, raising it higher and figuring what'd fit this face believably. He started out just humming, but that wasn't really giving him any ideas on how high or low to go for this disguise, so he switched to an old nursery rhyme his dad taught him. He was pretty sure it was just an old drinking song with the words changed a little to be easier for kids to understand, but that's not really important. The rhythm is nice, and it resonates nicely with his heartsong which is a little weird but he's sure it's a coincidence.tl;dr version: the soulmate au we probably shouldn't be working on :3c





	Heartsongs and Heartbreak

Mephisto tried out voices and disguises sometimes when he was alone, and he knew Praxina did too sometimes. She didn't do voices that often, but she also wasn't as worried as he was about being recognized. So sometimes he'd go to a random park in Sunny Bay in a human disguise and practice speaking or even singing in different voices until he's found one he liked.

Iris had gone to the park to secretly walk Rosie- c'mon, even plants need a good dose of sunlight sometimes- when she'd heard something that... well, if she were to describe it honestly, it resonated in her. She heard a noise that felt like she had suddenly found out she were only half of something, just in time to be made whole again. She accidentally drops Rosie's leash as she wanders toward it, ending up peering through some bushes to the water's edge where... some boy was standing and humming, head nodding. What?

Mephisto started playing with the pitch of his voice, raising it higher and figuring what'd fit this face believably. He started out just humming, but that wasn't really giving him any ideas on how high or low to go for this disguise, so he switched to an old nursery rhyme his dad taught him. He was pretty sure it was just an old drinking song with the words changed a little to be easier for kids to understand, but that's not really important. The rhythm is nice, and it resonates nicely with his heartsong which is a little weird but he's sure it's a coincidence.

Iris hadn't ever heard anything so beautiful. A bit bassy, a bit high, but just right somehow. She presses a hand to her chest and listens for a moment as she tries to get the rhythm down internally. Part of her wonders how the guy would respond to a duet!

It's just as he's settled into the highest register he can comfortably sing in- he could probably speak a little higher, but it'd start to really hurt- he hears something whine. He startles and whirls around toward the noise, looking around in embarrassment and fear. Was Praxina taunting him with some new monster?

When the cute boy turns around, Iris feels a burst of panic and quickly pulls back and stumbles. Oh no! She'd totally gotten busted. Maybe... Maybe she should just get out of here before anyone recognizes her. She rubs her arms and heads for home, wincing.

When she gets there, she runs into Auriana and a big, empty box of strawberries that had definitely been meant to last a week. But that wasn't important now... She shook her head. "Hey, Auri, can I ask you a weird question?"

Auriana had been intending to hide the evidence of her and Amaru's fruit binge when Iris shows up, and she laughs awkwardly until she hears Iris's question about questions.  
"Hmm? What question? Nothing's a weird question, I'm sure."

"Have you ever um, heard anything weird? Or noticed anything weird about uh... music? Like when people sing, and you feel weird, but you don't know what's going on?" Iris wishes there were a sane way to phrase this.

"Hmm, I don't really know? Maybe you think it's something weird but it's normal for Ephedians?" Auriana tilts her head. "What exactly happened?"

"This guy was singing in the park and I stopped because it was really pretty, but then he heard something and turned around and I know he saw me and I panicked. Really bad. But something feels off... I don't know. Part of me really wants to go back and find him, but I know I shouldn't."

"Ooh, did you find your heartsong?? What is he like? What's he feeling right now??"

"Auriana, what are you talking about? What's a heartsong? Why would I know what he's feeling?"

"You know, your heartsong! The rhythm in your head that matches your feelings? You can hear his song, too, that's why he's your heartsong!"

"Auriana, please give me specifics. I don't know what that is, it doesn't exist on earth." Iris, not for the first time, internally bemoans her friend's ignorance to earth and anything she understood. Because honestly.

"Oh, that's so sad! Do Earthlings not have heartsongs? How do they know who to fall in love with?? That's so sad!"

"Auriana!" Iris grabs her shoulders. "Point, please!"

"Um, you're asking what a heartsong is, right? It's the song in your heart, the one just behind your thoughts that matches what you're feeling? And it resonates with the song of the person you're meant to be with. We have festivals in Volta every year where teenagers gather and sing until they resonate together and find each other, it's so romantic. I can't wait to find my heartsong, I know he's waiting for me somewhere, you know?" She sighs dreamily.

"Or she," Iris replies automatically, then pauses and takes that information in. "Wait. That's a soulmate thing. Ephedians come with soulmates??"

"Or she, I guess. And yes? It's part of our magic, we're born with a perfect compliment. Or someone, somewhere, is born to compliment us. You know? Mine's older, I've always heard him- or her, before you say anything- and I can't wait to really hear him. Them. Happy?"

Iris could feel the panic setting in, made worse by the fact that the soft buzzing she could always just barely feel was also sending gentle shockwaves of panic. "And you're telling me that they... connect? Perfect compliment..." She glances at the door. "If that's true, then mine is back at the park right now."

"Oh my gosh! This is so exciting! What are they like? What were they doing??" Auriana bounces a little in excitement, grabbing one of Iris's hands.  
"Tell me _EVERYTHING_!"

Iris realized suddenly that if she stayed and did that, she would never find him again. So she pulls her hand out of Auriana's, hugs her to throw her off, and sprints back out of the house. Maybe she could still catch him, and if he'd noticed her watching him... well, that was a good conversation topic.

Auriana was excited about the hug, but Iris leaving to do whatever would give her time to hide the evidence of her and Amaru's fruit binge. She was kind of glad Iris hadn't noticed either box of strawberries or the one of blueberries. 

The park was empty, at least in the secluded spot Mephisto had been in. He'd found the source of the whimpering, an enchanted rose plant he'd immediately began calling Roswell. Praxina probably wouldn't like the voice he ended up going with for this face, or his new pet. But Little bit of Love and Roswell would most definitely get along, and he wasn't going to leave the plant alone.

Praxina blinked at the appearance of her brother in one of his disguises, and the first thing that she was met with upon doing so was yapping and something pawing at her leg. "Mephisto, why do you have Iris's stupid rose? If this is your big idea I swear..." She grumbles.

"Oh, she's Iris's? I didn't recognize her." He kneels down to scratch just underneath her petals.  
"What's got your boots in a knot, though? I'm allowed to bring home pets if I want them."

Praxina grimaced at the flower wagging its lower leaf, which she had to assume was meant to be the tail. "Mephisto you fool, what if they come here to try and find her? They'd be right at our doorstep and we cannot afford that right now."  
The enchanted rose whines at her leg and Praxina sticks her tongue out at her. "Please try to think things through sometime."

"They're not going to find her. We have anti-scrying spells on this cave for a reason. And it's not like they're really going to try that hard to find her, she's a pretty common plant." Roswell whines at him then, and he turns his attention back to her.  
"What am I saying? You're a one of a kind, aren't you? Just the most precious plant I've ever met."

Rosie presses her petals into his head and whines affectionately this time, Praxina crossing her arms at the display. "Mephisto, focus! We already know that the princesses- ugh- have strange sentimentality over certain objects and people. To them, the flower is probably as important as Amaru, or Auriana, or Iris's purse."

"Iris leaves her purse everywhere." Mephisto pointed out, dropping his human disguise and the high voice.  
He continued nuzzling Roswell.

"I know. She also leaves Auriana everywhere." Praxina sighs and ruffles his hair. "Well, if you insist on adopting this weird magic flower, I'll watch it, and if you claim you have a good idea to get back at the princesses, then maybe we can work on it together. Want me to kidnap you right when it's getting good?"

"...That's actually a pretty good idea." He tapped his chin thoughtfully.  
"We could engineer a problem for my human disguise to have. Iris is compassionate enough that she'd want to help a random stranger out. But I don't know what problem. Hmm."

"Humans seem to have this fixation with taking care of each other. Maybe say you're hungry? Sad? Tired? Fake a problem. That you can't eat or can't sleep... hmm... maybe pretend you don't have anywhere to live?"

"Hmm. I'll think of something. I also can't just walk up to her with a problem, she'll notice that her pendant isn't glowing." He frowns again, but is distracted by Roswell whining and butting into his cheek.  
"Do you have an idea? I'm sure it's very useful! What's your idea, huh?" He asks in his babytalk voice.

"Mephisto if you can't focus on the plan, I will confiscate the flower." She taps her foot impatiently. "If her pendant isn't glowing, then what do you want to do?"

"Maybe just... establish myself as a human first? And then watch for when her pendant glows and make my move then?" He offers, scooping Roswell up and holding her close protectively.

"Maybe. Have you used this disguise with her yet?" Praxina reached out to trace the flower's petals gently, smiling.

"No, I just made it. Picked a voice for it today. I think I'm going to name it something with an A." He pets Roswell's stem and smiles at her and Praxina.  
"I could try another, but I don't have any others we haven't used on them."

"You do tend to make them on the spot." Praxina teases. "But this could work. We don't have room for failure, so why not."

"Is it so bad I'm a prodigy with improvisation?" He sniffs in mock-hurt.  
"And if it does fail, you can probably blame it on my fumbling and try it yourself. They aren't that perceptive, I'm sure it'll take more than one trick like this before they stop falling for it."

Praxina had to snort at that. "No, they're very unobservant. But you can be too. What if they see through the ruse and lead you into their home to use you against me?" Even saying it felt silly. She knew the girls would never figure it out, or come up with a plan that clever.

"Wouldn't it be an even better idea to let them take me into their house anyway? I can get access to their library and double cross them once I have something useful." Mephisto pointed out, frowning.  
"Not that I think they'd try, but... if the opportunity arises..."

"How would you get an excuse to get into their library?"

"I mostly was thinking if I can get past the barrier and manage to be left alone in the house, I can find it on my own. They can't possibly hide it very hard past the barrier keeping things out, right?"

Praxina did have to admit that made sense. Why would they hide it within their own home? "Deal. But if you think they'll turn on you, get out of there." She wagged a finger at him.

"Of course. I do have a sense of self-preservation, you know." He huffs, and pets Roswell's petals again.  
"Should I head out to find Iris now, or should we wait a day or two?"

"Hmm... Now would be good. We don't know how long it'll be before you have a better window than this." She flicks his nose and takes the pot from him. "Now wave bye-bye to the flower, I'll keep it watered while you're undercover. If you last that long."

He grinned, blew a kiss at Praxina and the rose, and pulled the human disguise back on.  
"Of course, sister dearest. See you when this totally works and I find something cool." He winks, and teleports back into the park. Might as well start in a good spot, right?

Iris had been searching the park for a while and just came to the conclusion that her mystery man had disappeared. She sits down heavily under a tree and sniffs, feeling like she'd messed up. She'd run from fear of being found, and when she came back it was too late. What a metaphor for her life, right?

Mephisto ran a hand through his hair, and smiles to himself when he sees Iris sit down under the tree. The smile fades a bit as he focuses on her- and the song he knows is her- and notices her distress. The way she seemed to have crumpled in on herself as she sat down and the defeated tilt of her shoulders. He starts heading her way, concerned. He'll draw attention to himself once he's closer.

Something in her chest starts humming as she sits there, and the feeling is just so foreign and confusing that it makes everything else worse. She starts crying, the kind of soft confused crying that would build up into full-body sobs if she wasn't careful. She wouldn't find the guy again, and she'd have to continue fighting to save Ephedia, and when she left to rule it she'd lose her chance to ever meet him again. Just dwelling on it makes the tears worse, her face burning in embarrassment and her throat getting raw from the distressed hiccups.

The sudden burst of distress makes him actually stumble, as he gets closer, and he ends up on his knees next to her. She's crying pretty hard by this point, and his worry makes it hard to talk for half a second.  
"H-hey, are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Oh no, everything was just feeling worse. The noise was louder and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, and then someone spoke to her. Iris tried to wipe her face off and ended up just making a panicked whining noise that sounded far, far too much like pained trill. Not that she could make sense of her own body right now, since something was going haywire. She ends up using her dress to wipe off her face, trying to rein in the sobs for a second.  
"I-I'm s-sorry, it's fine." She breathes slowly for a moment, then coughs. "It's okay. I'm uh-okay." She sneezes, which starts up another sob. Ugh, how embarrassing. She couldn't even look over and see who it was.

Mephisto winces, and reaches out to gently wipe her tears away.  
"Are you sure? I'm, um, willing to listen?" He offered quietly, voice wavering from the strain of keeping it high even as he panicked about her distress. He'd never seen her break down like this, what could have possibly made her this upset?

"I... I don't know. I'm just." Iris wrings the hem of her dress, tugging at the fabric as another wave of tears hesitate to come. "I thought I could do something in time a-and I couldn't and I lost my chance forever." Was she even making sense right now? If she could just get a grip it'd be alright.

Mephisto makes an upset crooning noise, and wipes her tears away again.  
"I'm sorry, what did you think you could do? Do you think having a second... set of hands might help?"

Iris can't help but turn into the hands, something about them familiar. "I don't know, I think I could..." She trails off as she opens her eyes, finally meeting her savior's. "I could..." She whispers again.  
It was him!! The boy that made her heart sing, that made whatever it was that Auriana had been talking about slide into place.  
"Whoa." She whispers.

He blinks, and frowns a little worriedly.  
"You could...?" He trails off meaningfully, and then pretends to have a realization.  
"Wait, are you that girl from that band? The lead one?"

Iris blinks at that. Curse her popularity! Or not... hm. She nods. "Yeah, Lolirock. It's getting kinda big around here, I guess." She laughs nervously but sits up a bit to face him better. "Iris. My name is Iris."

He smiles a little, and scratches the back of his neck.  
"Ah, sorry, I just moved into town not too long ago, still getting used to everything. My name's, uh, Alan." He laughs a little awkwardly, hoping she didn't notice his stumble as he tried to pick a name quickly.

She could work with that. Her distress is mostly forgotten, though her cheeks are still red and tearstained and a hiccup escapes. "Sorry." She smiles. "You're new to town? How cool! Have you settled in yet?"

"Yeah, just... exploring, really. I like being in the park, it's very calming. I'm still figuring out where to go to hang out and stuff, though." He laughs a little, and shrugs.  
"I don't have any friends in town yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before I make some."

Iris swallowed. "Well, maybe hanging out with me would be good for you? I've lived here all my life, and even if you're not that into the band we get to meet all kinds of cool people!"

"I haven't really gotten to see much of it, I know you were on television but we were moving during the broadcasting and we only just got it set up, but I'd love to hear more if I could. And I wouldn't mind hanging out, are you sure it's okay? You were really upset for a while there..."

"No- I. It was stupid." She laughs and wipes her cheek. "I was looking for something but... I think I found it." Iris offers a smile. "Does that make sense?"

Mephisto blinked, startled, and smiled a little in confusion.  
"Uh, no, not really. But I'm glad you're feeling better?"

Iris nodded and stood up slowly. She stretched a little bit, already feeling the stress ease as her heart seems to sing. "So, have you been to the Smoothie Bar yet? It always cheers me up, and it's the best place to find people our age. Smoothies are kind of big here, especially with the summer heat." She waves her face, almost trying to pretend that she'd been sweating instead of crying. They both knew the truth, but she would definitely lie if needed.

Mephisto blinked once, and then shrugged.  
"No, I don't think I've ever even had one before." He glanced at her through his eyelashes, like he was embarrassed by this admission.

Iris nodded. "That's okay, people come in all the time who've never had one before! Nate's always excited to show them new things- oh, Nathaniel is my friend, he works there. He's a bigger celebrity than I am with how many crises he's helped avoid with the smoothies."

He relaxed a little, and nodded.  
"Oh, that makes sense. But are they really crises? I didn't think they were that big a deal..."

"Well, when someone's boyfriend breaks up with them, or a test doesn't go their way, or their pet dies suddenly, or anything sad happens, they want a pick-me-up. And smoothies can be that. It's kind of weird, buying weird sugary drinks to cheer yourself up, but it's no different than buying a tub of icecream or a whole chocolate cake. Just more social." Iris smiled.

"...huh." He could sort of understand the idea behind what she was saying- Ephedia had bars, after all- but the context of smoothies and 'icecream' baffled him. Did Xeris have something similar? If so, he'd never had it.  
"I suppose that makes sense."

Iris offered a hand to help him stand up. "Besides, first one is my treat. Especially since you're new in town."

"Um, thank you?" He took her hand and stood up, running a hand through his hair again.  
"Lead the way? I have no idea if I've even seen the place."

"Yeah, totally!" She left her hand in his and started walking. "When you've been there once, you'll never be able to miss it again."

He did not get butterflies when she failed to pull her hand out of his. He did _not_. He just... took a minute to collect his thoughts, that's all.  
"I'm sure. What all goes into a smoothie? Is it just fruit?"

"Fruit, water, a bit of sugar I think? Sometimes syrup too. And fruit juice! It's just a big pureed mess and it's delicious."

"Oh, cool." He smiled a little. "It sounds interesting."

Iris nods again. "Yeah. They have other stuff there too, but the main attraction is the smoothies."

He nods, and shrugs his jacket on more comfortably.  
"I understand. What's your friend like? I'm curious."

"Well... He's nice. He's good at listening, and he never judges! He always listens to the whole story and he helps anyone who needs it. He's just... a really good friend, you know?"

It took all of his willpower not to roll his eyes at the description.  
"He sounds great, I... I'd really like to meet him. Is he always at the smoothie place?"

"Not always, but usually. His boss works him super hard." Iris knew she wasn't good at describing Nathaniel, and was kind of surprised the description, however vague, had worked.

He nodded, and frowned with carefully-crafted worry.  
"Overworking isn't a good thing."

"No, but neither is not having any money. He's trying to save up for college." Iris shrugged. She hadn't gotten much of a chance to give college a thought... "I'm kind of working just as hard with the music, being in a band is way harder than I thought it'd be. Making the music, recording it, choreographing, then not to mention getting gigs to perform it and people to sell it. It's a lot of work."

Mephisto nodded.  
"I understand, moving here was an attempt to open up my options for making money. To try and make my life a little easier. You know?" He was lying, entirely.

"Yeah, I know. There's plenty of options here, everyone's always getting shuffled around. I tried a bunch of jobs before I got into Lolirock, and that's the only reason I have a job now." She smiles, thinking about it. "It's nice."

He nods, smiling a little.  
"Sounds nice, is the music industry always this open?"

"I have no idea, why?" She squeezed his hand. "Interested?"

"A little, though I don't know how good I'd be at it."

"Can you sing? Play any instruments?" She wonders if she could persuade talia and Aurianna to let her have a few songs where he guest starred... what if he sang with her? she'd heard him singing so she knew he could, the issue would be getting him to admit it and the girls to accept.

He scratched the back of his neck, glancing to the side.  
"I don't know, I'm not all that good..." He shook his head.  
"Though I can play guitar?" He offered, it was one of the instruments he wasn't half-bad at.

Damn, it'd take some wheedling to get him to sing with her. Well, atleast there was something to work with. They pause at the street, waiting for the cars to break. "Then come play for me sometime, maybe it can be fun."

He laughed a little, and shrugged.  
"Do you offer to let strangers work with you all the time?" He smiled softly, and glanced at the passing traffic.  
"But I mean, I wouldn't mind?"

The crossing sign switches symbols and Iris pulls him forward. "Honestly? You'd be pretty surprised. We like sharing."

He snorts, but nods anyway.  
"Really?" He follows after her, trying not to be too eager.

"Yes really!" Iris squeezes his hand again, maybe keeping the contact on too long. But he hadn't pulled it away yet, so she was still good. She glances around for a moment and nods. "The smoothie bar is just at the end of the next block, super close to the park."

"Wow, for real? Wonder how I missed it?" He grinned a little, and squeezed her hand back. It wasn't weird that he hadn't tried to pull away, yet, was it? He hoped not. It might be his only chance to hold her hand without any REAL tricks planned.

"Bad luck and lack of observation?" She guessed. "But it does tend to blend into the surroundings if you don't know what you're looking for."

"Fair." Mephisto huffed, and glanced around. The only notable shop front was the one with a green and orange sign, shaped vaguely like a cup. Was that it? It was kind of gaudy.

Iris ended up stopping at the sidewalk across from the Smoothie Bar, glancing up and down the road before crossing with him in tow. "Ooh! What kind of fruits do you like? Or do you just want the special?"

"I um, I'm kind of fond of, uh..." He trailed off after a second, trying to think of an earth fruit he found palatable.  
"Apple? And, um, the fuzzy ones, with the green insides? I can't ever remember what they're called."

"Kiwi?" She volunteered. "Peaches? Wait, they're not green. Do you like green?"

"Kiwi. Yes." He scratched the back of his neck again, and stepped up to hold the door open for Iris.  
"And, uh, yeah. It's my favorite color."

"Really? Then I know just what you should get!" Iris pushed the door open. "Can I order for you? Hi Nathaniel!"

"Uh, sure?"  
He blinked once, as the guy at the counter greeted them. Mephisto recognized him as the guy Praxina was confident Iris had a crush on. 

"Oh, hey Iris! Who's the new guy?"

Iris finally pulled her hand away to wiggle her hands at the boy as if presenting him. "His name's Alan! New in town. And I have the perfect remedy for new boy blues." She switches to finger pistols. "Can I get a Something Green and a Something Pink?" She grins. "Pretty please? On my tab?"

Nathaniel smiled, and pulled out two cups and a second blender, so that he could make both smoothies at once.  
"Sure thing, coming right up. Nice to meet you, Alan."

Mephisto smiled a little awkwardly, curious about the things she'd ordered. "Nice to meet you, too."

Iris leaned on the counter, crossing her legs. "So, what's up? Any train wrecks today?"

"No, not really. Though Talia and Auriana were in her an hour ago looking for you... have you been crying? What happened?" He paused in the middle of dropping strawberries into the first blender, leaning towards her worriedly. Mephisto winced internally, and stepped up next to Iris.

Iris blinked at him, rubbing her eyes. "Oh, that? I'm sorry, didn't mean to... It was nothing. I got overwhelmed. Alan helped me out." She bumped his hip with her own. "What did you tell Auriana and Talia?"

Nathaniel blinked, and gave Alan a once-over.  
"Really?"  
Mephisto smiled awkwardly and nodded.  
"Yeah, uh, I found her crying and... I don't actually know what calmed her down." He admitted softly.

"It was enough. I just needed someone... you know?" The last words are directed at Nathaniel, hoping that he will atleast get it.

Nathaniel blinked, but nodded understandingly.  
"Sometimes you just need a listening ear." He smiled.  
Mephisto just shook his head, resigning himself to not understanding Iris or other... Earthlings.

"Yeah, totally. Oh, are the smoothies ready?" She pointed at them. "Alan's never had one before!"

Nathaniel squawked, and turned back to the blenders.  
"I almost forgot, thanks for the reminder." He laughs awkwardly, and pushes the buttons after putting the caps on them.  
"You've never had one? Something Green is a little... extreme for a first."  
Mephisto shrugged.

"He said it was his favorite color, and he likes apple and kiwi. Sometimes something extreme is a great leap in! Don't you remember what I got first time I came here? I asked for an everything smoothie."

"Yeah, but I didn't actually give you a smoothie with everything in it. And Something Green is pretty sour." Nathaniel argues, even as he pours it into a cup.

Iris pouts at him. "You told me it had everything in it."

"I lied." He sing-songed. Mephisto snorted.

"I hope you realize that now I'm definitely going to make you make me an everything smoothie now, right Nate?" She wags her finger at him.

He snorts, and slides her smoothie to her.  
"That's fair. I dunno if I'd actually give it to you, though." He hands the other smoothie to Alan, who looks at the cup dubiously before taking a cautious sip.

Iris sips her smoothie, eyes on Alan excitedly. "Hmm?" She hums. "Any thoughts??"

He blinks, and then takes another sip, a contemplative look in his eye. Nathaniel smiles a little to himself, and crosses his arms.

"Well?" Iris was bouncing a little bit. The anticipation....

Mephisto pulled back from the straw, eyes twinkling excitedly.  
"I love it."  
Nathaniel laughed.

Iris fistpumped and giggled. "Yes! See, I told you so, Nathaniel! You owe me an everything smoothie! Preferably without the kitchen sink though, haha."

Mephisto sipped at his smoothie a little slower, just to conserve it.  
Nathaniel sighed.  
"Maybe. No promises."

Iris wagged her finger. "Uh-uh, I earned it."

"No promises about the kitchen sii~iink," he sing-songed again. Mephisto snorted.

Iris groaned at him, turning to Alan. "Ignore him, he'd never. I'm really glad you liked it!"

Nathaniel laughed again, and Mephisto waved a hand dismissively.  
"It's very good, I'm glad I agreed to come."

"And I'm very glad you found me. You know- hm?" She blinks at the sound of something ripping, only to glance down just in time to see the strap of her purse break and all her stuff scatter on the floor. "Oh no!" She drops to her knees, leaving the smoothie on the counter. "I can't believe this!" Iris groaned as she hurriedly hides the spare crystals and magic pages, as well as notes on lyrics, and pulls it all into a pile in the now ruined purse. "I bet Auriana did it and used- I mean uh. Patched it. Oh, I can't believe I didn't notice." She grumbled.

Nathaniel winced, and pulled a cloth shopping bag out from under the counter.  
"Want to borrow something to carry that in 'til you buy a new one?" He offered, as Mephisto repressed a snort at the idea of Auriana botching a reparation spell so badly.  
"Is there anything I can do to help?" He offered, instead, because what else was he supposed to say?

Iris nodded. "I can borrow one... but oh, this is my last bag. Talia always drags us out of the store before I can get to accessories!" She glances at Alan. "Do you mind if we go shopping? Just so I can get a new purse, this really is my last one."

He shook his head, smiling a little.  
"I don't mind at all." He honestly didn't, it was a good reason to hang around with her longer, and Praxina couldn't yell at him because this was still a great way to learn things about them. He'd need to figure out a more concrete plan soon, though.

Nathaniel pushed the bag toward her, and leaned on the counter.  
"Good luck, and you should probably mention that to Talia sometime."

Iris winced. "Yeah, but you know Talia. She'd probably tell me to just ration my other time in the stores, and you know me too." She pushes it all into the bag, feeling kind of sad at seeing all of her stuff be out of the designated pockets and so... trashed. She huffs and stands. "You really don't mind?" She directs this at Alan.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, but nodded.  
"You should still talk to her about it, even then."

Mephisto shook his head again.  
"Not at all, it'll be a good way to learnt he fastest way to walk to the mall, won't it?"

"Oh, not technically a mall. There's a good store just across the street, I've been eying a purse in there for ages." Iris glances longingly through the window.

Mephisto blinked, and then looked out the window curiously.  
"There's a purse store just over there?" A little baffled, but interested despite himself.

"Well, clothing store. We went to school with the owner's son, and he works there still." Iris shrugged.

He nodded a little, humming thoughtfully.  
"That makes sense." He smiled a little, and took one last sip of his smoothie.  
"Did you want to get going?"

Iris pulled her wallet and handed Nate a five and a one apologetically. "Yeah, sounds good. Sorry Nate!"

Nathaniel waved a hand and tucked the money away, smiling.  
"It's alright!"

Mephisto walked towards the door, to hold it open for her again. He dropped his cup off in a bin on the way.

Iris was feeling good until she saw Alan drop the cup in the trash. Her smile fell off her face as she came over to him. "Did- did you not like it?"

"Huh? Oh, um, I finished it? Was I not supposed to?" He winced internally. Damn.

"Oh, yeah. Yes, you're supposed to finish it! I just usually don't see anyone finishing them that fast- damn, did you even taste it?" She says the last few words as a joke, but part of her is holding her own smoothie to her chest.

He blinked, and tilted his head.  
"I really liked it? If I couldn't taste it how would I know I liked it?" He furrowed his eyebrows a little, thinking.

Iris shook her head. "Nevermind, let's just..." She points at the other store, glancing to see if they had time to get across. Luckily the crosswalk was in their favor! Iris starts crossing, smiling to herself.

Mephisto hums, and glances both ways down the street, where a car is careening toward where Iris is walking in front of him. In instinct he shoots a bolt of dark crystal at the car so it stops short, jagged black and green shards tearing the primitive transport's front end to shreds.

The sudden sound of metal shrieking startles Iris into dropping her smoothie in her rush to cover her ears, turning to find herself face to face with a sudden glacier of green-tinted black crystal, shredding the front end of a towering semi-truck. Iris could feel her hands starting to shake as she realized how close she must have been to getting hit, then that one of the twins must be nearby. Forgetting the smoothie, Iris turns and runs back to Alan, dragging him into the alley behind the clothing shop. "Alan, you need to stay here, okay?" She hands him the bag with her stuff in it. "I'll, I'll be right back. It's too dangerous for you." She kisses his cheek after a seconds hesitation and runs back to the street, scanning the sky for traces of the twins. "Oh come out, come out wherever you are." She whispers under her breath, one fist clenched and her microphone appearing in the other. Could she get away with a swordfight in public? Lolirock was going to be performing at a Ren-faire soon... she could lie and claim promotion, get more people interested in it. Ugh, why did this have to happen now? And Mephisto hadn't even warned her, he usually sent an insult with his attacks to accidentally let her know exactly what he was doing. This time it had been... of questionable motive, but too close for comfort.

Mephisto winced internally, and made a few shocked-sounding affirmative noises. Once Iris was out of sight and not likely to look back at him, he peeled the human disguise off and shook out his cape, teleporting to a point in the sky above Iris.  
"You should pay more attention, Princess! You're lucky I had an eye out for you."

Iris looked up at him. "And you're lucky I was out and about today, what, too bored to do anything but watch me?" She scoffed, trying not to let it show that part of her was actually grateful she hadn't gotten flattened. No princess pancake would be useful in defeating Gramorr, after all.

In the smoothie bar, Nathaniel was concerned. He saw Iris standing in front of the semi, then her drag Alan to an alley, and then her weird groupie appear in the street. Was Alan okay? Was Iris okay? He decided to call Aunt Ellen.

Mephisto snorted.  
"What do you think we do between schemes, Iris? Twiddle our thumbs and play cards?" He rolled his eyes, thankful she wasn't worrying about Alan or anything. 

 

Praxina teleported next to him, arms crossed.  
"You're going to burn yourself out," she pointed out shrewdly.

"No I'm not."

"With the way your schemes are, yes!" Iris snapped. "But why don't you both burn yourselves out and go away!" She was getting really tired of constantly getting interrupted by the twins.

On the phone, Aunt Ellen picks up after her trademark three rings. Nate has seen from experience that it's the exact amount of time it takes her to set her wineglass down, swallow her sip, and sigh. "Hello?"  
"Hey, Aunt Ellen, know how you said to call you first in case Iris got into trouble? Well what do I do?"  
There's a loud groan and the sound of her taking another sip. "Nathaniel, listen close."

Mephisto held a hand to his heart, mock-hurt.  
"Ouch, that really stings." His deadpan might be a little strained, but she didn't need to know how close to home she hit.

Praxina rolled her eyes, and motioned around.  
"We don't have anything planned, why did you have to show yourself?"

Iris activated her sword. Was Praxina really going to ignore her? "Are you kidding me? I'm here, ready for a fight. Come down here!" She did atleast have the presence of mind not to leap into the air onto a crystal platform. That would be weird.

Nathaniel gasped, interrupting Ellen. "Oh my god she has a sword!"  
Ellen makes a sound like she's hitting her head on something, then hangs up on him. He barely notices.

Mephisto winces at Praxina, and opts to just teleport away rather than respond. He turns back into Alan in the alleyway, just in case she came back this way.

Praxina had opened her mouth to taunt Iris, but couldn't help but groan when Mephisto ran away.  
"Maybe some other time, Princess." She grumbled, and started to pick a destination to teleport to.

Iris, frustrated, chucks her sword at Praxina. It misses, due to Praxina teleporting away at the last second, and Iris' shoulders slump as the sword lands in front of the smoothie bar before dissolving. Then she offers a fake smile and waves to the people around her "Come to the renaissance fair next weekend! At the park, 10 to 5, Friday through Sunday!" She yells before turning and heading for the alleyway. She does pause at seeing her stuff in Alan's arms though, frowning. "Did... was Mephisto holding my stuff?" She thought she'd seen the trademark smoothie bag in his arms, now that she was looking back on the moment.

Praxina saw the sword coming just as she leaves, and holds her heart for a second after appearing in their cave.  
"Girl has _balls_." She mutters to herself. 

Mephisto blinks, and then looks down at her bag. Oh, damn.  
"Uh, who?" He asked, instead. Because that was a smart reaction.

Iris blinked before shaking her head. "Sorry, I must be seeing things. Um. You okay? I'm sure that was confusing, it happens a lot."

Mephisto's head snapped up in confusion and concern.  
"You nearly get hit by a truck and get saved by black crystals all the time?!"  
Okay, so he knew that wasn't true, but really, what else was he supposed to ask? She'd probably just been meaning having to fight him and his sister.

Iris winced. "I- uh. Sure? It's a long story and I don't know how to tell it." She laughs awkwardly.

He shook his head and breathed out slowly.  
"I, uh, I don't... I don't think I want to hear it, it sounds complicated." He laughed a little, and ran a hand through his hair.  
"Want to head into that store you were going to?"

She nodded, running her fingers through her own hair. "Can you keep a hand on my, um, bag? It's hard for me to look at stuff without my hands free." She wiggled her fingers and started to lead him out of the alleyway, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Mephisto smiled.  
"Sure thing, I don't mind. My sister has me hold her bags all the time."

Iris giggles. "You have a sister? Nice! I'm an only child, but Nate has a bunch of family and me and Aunt Ellen always got invited over. What's she like?"

"A little demanding, but older siblings always are." He shrugged a little, smiling.  
"How's it like being an only child? I don't think I can imagine it."

"Kind of lonely sometimes, especially just living with my Aunt. She loves me a lot, but there's a lot of alone time and it's always too quiet. Growing up with Nate being my best friend actually helped me out a lot, because his house is always bustling with energy." She holds the door to the clothing shop, Sunnyside Up Closet (a definite pun on the town name), open for him as she sighs. "I've always wanted people around but it's just been me and Aunt Ellen. Then Talia and Auriana moved in, and I love them a lot too but... now the house is too loud all the time and I never get alone time. See my issue?"

"You just need balance." He shrugged, and stepped inside the store.  
"So, um, what all are we looking for? Just a bag?"

"A bag, maybe something else if it jumps out at me..." She blinked at a cute cardigan, stepping over to it. "Ooh, like this! Isn't it adorable?" She pulls one of them, a pink one with stitched flowers and a coral snake decal around the collar and sleeves, out, smiling. "It's soooo cute." She cooed. "Plus fall is coming up soon, and I need a sweater." She tucked it over her arm. "So, it's mine now."

Mephisto blinked at the sweater, a surge of want pulsing through him. He stifled it quickly, and glanced to the side.  
"It is really cute." He managed, through the lump suddenly in his throat. If he really wanted a sweater like that, he could make one with magic. It just... wouldn't be real.

Iris blinked and frowned. "What's wrong? You look upset."

"It's nothing." Damn, he'd said that too fast. He shook his head, and sighed.  
"Really, it doesn't matter."

Iris's shoulders slumped for a second as she glanced between the sweaters and him. "Come on, you can tell me! Being upset and not explaining will just freak me out too because I'll think I did something wrong. Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no, that's not it. I just um. I hadn't actually planned on going shopping or anything today, so I don't have my wallet. And it looks like those don't come in any larger sizes anyway." He explained, speaking a little fast to make her calm down. He didn't want her to be upset, that was the opposite of his goal at the moment.

"Hmmm...." She frowned and switched through the rack. "They have a double x- you have really wide shoulders- but only in green. Do you like green?"

Mephisto blinked, and couldn't help but laugh a little.  
"Y-yeah, actually, it's my favorite color." He'd nearly dipped out of the voice he'd made for this face, he hoped it just sounded like he'd stuttered. Maybe he should actually make an effort to stutter more often in this disguise, just to keep that consistent.

Iris blinked in surprise. "Oh, really then? Here, try it on!" She pulled it out and handed it to him. "And if you like it, I... I can get it for you."

Mephisto shrugged out of the red jacket he'd given this disguise, making sure to keep it from disintegrating when it was pulled off- just to avoid questions, really- and pulled on the cardigan. It fit perfectly, and the snake detailing was calling to him. He shot Iris a small smile, unsure if it actually looked good.

Iris nodded excitedly. "It's so good on you!! The white flowers and the stripes on the snake are so cute," She taps them. "And the green brings out your eyes. Do you want it?"

"K-kind of, but I can't ask you to buy it for me, it'd be rude..." He trailed off, pulling the sweater off and replacing it on the hanger. He couldn't just ask her for it, where would he even keep it? Praxina would kill him.

Iris pulled it out of his hand, wagging her fingers. "I want to. Let me, think of it as a 'welcome to town' gift. From someone who's lived here forever and likes helping. Besides your jacket is a little on the old side." She held up her fingers as a measure of 'little'.

He laughed, and shrugged a little.  
"I suppose, it's my ah... brother's." It left a sour taste in his mouth to say it, but it wasn't a jacket a girl would own, and he'd designed it with Praxina in mind, If he was being honest. He could... try and explain that, he supposed. Humans had that sort of thing too, didn't they?

Iris blinked. "Oh, do you have a brother too?" Iris glanced at the sweater in her hand.

"Ah... not, anymore." He shrugged a little helplessly, still trying to think of a word for it that'd make sense to her. He knew the Ephedian words for it- in Runician, Calixian, and Xerisian, specifically, but English was failing him.

Iris winced. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bring it up, my bad."

"No, no, it's fine, that... that sounded bad. Um. You know how some people experience... gender dysphoria?" Were those even the right words? He couldn't think of any ways to phrase it, why was this hard?

"Oh, like... where they realize that they're... not what they used to be?" Iris didn't know how to explain it well. "Like um, my friend. Jordan became Joanna, and she's happier now than she ever was."

Mephisto nodded, smiling.  
"Yes, exactly. Pr-reston became Paulina." He scratched the back of his neck, glad he'd caught himself before he'd made a noticeable mistake.

Iris nodded back at him. "Yeah!" She glances around, not sure how to continue the conversation. then she sees a really cute pair of shorts, ooh. She wanders over to them and holds them up. "Do you think I could pull these off?"

"Oh, um, yeah? They look cute?" He offered, smiling softly.

"Ooh! Thank you." She grabbed it. "Wait, I have an idea! Since idea grabbed something for you, why don't you pick out something for me?"

He blinked, and then nodded. After glancing around and finding a small rack of hair accessories, he spots a headband with a bow on it. The bow had a rose in the center. He spent a few seconds comparing other bows and hairpieces, before offering her the headband.

Iris clapped excitedly. "Yes! That is so cute. I love the rose." She rubbed the bow, smiling. "And it's just the right texture too. And I think there's a bracelet that goes with this..." She narrowed her eyes.

Mephisto blinked, and glanced at the headband again before looking at the accessory rack next to the one he'd been looking at.  
"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm in here all the time!" She scanned the bracelet rack. "And there's... hmmm... here it is!" She pulled the matching bracelet out, then frowned. "Oh, I guess it's not actually matching... but it is cute." She shows it to him, a snake with a heart in its mouth. "Want it?"

Mephisto blinked, and then nodded slowly, feeling for all the world like she'd just claimed him. He knew, logically, that she had no idea what the symbols he was seeing in their choices meant, but first the matching sweaters- in their respective colors, even- and now accessories with their respective symbols hidden in them. It was probably a bad thing he wanted so badly for her to know about it. Instead, he rolled back the sleeve on his left wrist, and offered it to her. Maybe he was being too quiet, but... Alan didn't feel like the type of human who babbled too much.

Iris slid the bracelet onto his wrist, feeling that it was a bit intimate as her palm brushed the top of his fist. She bit her lip and nodded. "Nice, looks good." She glanced back up at him, possibly through her lashes and definitely a bit excitedly. She liked being able to buy people stuff, and with the popularity Lolirock had gained... it was nice. "Oh yeah, I was um... looking for a bag." She turned and headed for the purses. There was one, white with a big dark purple bow on it, that she'd been eyeing since forever. Talia had thwarted her in every prior attempt to purchase it, so being able to slide the straps over her wrist was justifiably pleasing. "Do you want to look at anything else?"

"I, um, don't think so?" He offered after a second, shaking his head in the negative.  
"Are you sure it's okay to buy all of this?"

Iris nodded, gesturing at it. "The last gig we did will totally cover this. It's fine! Besides, I want to." She smiled and tried to ignore the butterflies still fluttering in her stomach.

He smiled just a little, and glanced at the bracelet. He really... enjoyed having it. But he'd need to be careful to hide it from Praxina, or she'd throw a fit. Iris was marking him, it wouldn't go over well.

Iris headed to the cash register, offering her old friend a smile. "Hey, uh, this stuff." She dumps the heap from her arms onto the counter, and tugged the bracelet off of Alan's wrist for a minute. "And this." She glanced back at him, almost a 'one second' kind of expression.

Mephisto smiled, as the servant- worker? Shopkeep? Shopkeep- tallied how much Iris needed to pay for her purchases. Once the number was recited, Mephisto kind of had to wonder what exactly Earth money looked like, was it all like the green slips of paper Iris had given the Smoothie Boy, Nathaniel?

Iris nodded at the number and handed him her trusty debit card- okayed by Aunt Ellen and a total mystery to Auriana- as she offered him a smile. "I'm just going to carry it out in the purse, if that's okay?"

"Sure thing, Iris." The shopkeep gave her a smile as he moved the odd plastic rectangle down a slot on the machine in front of him. Mephisto had no idea how that worked, at all, and had to wonder what the hell humans' society even ran on. Was it a bartering system? Was the Smoothie Bar running on a different system than this store? This was confusing.

Iris smiled and nodded, putting the items into the purse and sliding the bracelet back onto Alan's wrist, still a bit tingly over how intimate the motion feels. However weird that sounds... "Thanks, have a nice day!"

Mephisto wiped the look of confusion off his face before Iris turned back to him, smiling at her again instead. He thanked the shopkeep as well, and started leading the way out of the store. If he left his arm hanging back towards her in an offer of holding it, that was his business.

Iris stepped back into line with him and half hugged him, sliding her arm around his waist and tipping her head into his chest. "I should probably get home soon, but it was really cool meeting you." She said once they were out of her friend's earshot. "Do you want to hang out again soon? Maybe like tomorrow or something?"

Mephisto blinked down at her, he had no idea how she'd gotten there. But he smiles and nods a little.  
"It was actually pretty fun, yeah. And um..." He feigned thought for a moment, before shrugging.  
"I don't know how long I'll have to hang out, but I'd love to? I'll meet you in the park, tomorrow?"

"Yeah! That sounds great. I could buy us smoothies and we could talk, or whatever you want to do." Iris had ducked under his arm to get there, maybe boosting her sneakiness with a teensy bit of magic, but it was all for a good cause. He smells like roses, hearty meals, and... this probably didn't make sense, but scales. Like snake scales. He smelled like roses, good meals, and snake scales. Ooh... what if he had a snake? Iris had to meet it. She sighs into his side and pulls back slowly, nodding once. "Plus I do have practice," she laughs awkwardly, then blinks. "Oh no, I missed practice!"

"Oh, dear. You should probably run. See you tomorrow?" He smiled a little awkwardly, and stepped away a little more.  
"Don't want to keep your friends, um, coworkers? Them waiting for too long."

Iris nodded, backing up and waving. "Yeah! See you tomorrow, around noon!" She turned and started sprinting, not wanting to keep Talia waiting too much longer. They were supposed to write a new song together, and she had totally forgotten in the wave of heartsong stuff and walking rosie.  
Wait.  
Rosie!

Mephisto watched her run off, and smiled to himself besottedly as he took the opportunity to teleport back to the cave. If a lovelorn sigh was falling out of his mouth he could just pretend it was the sound of his magic. Praxina couldn't yell at him, either, because he was technically still acting so long as this face was on.

Praxina teleported herself to her brother's side. "So? How did it go?" She asks, hand propped on her hip. "Did she believe you?"

He jumped, and huffed at her, rolling his eyes.  
"Of course she believed me, I'm an amazing actor, Praxina." He stuck his tongue out, mostly to make fun of her.

Praxina stuck her tongue out back at him. "Oh shut up, you're not that great. What happened? I couldn't watch you being, ugh, gross with her so I tuned it out."

"She bought herself some stuff after the thing with the truck, no big deal." He waved his left hand at her dismissively.  
"You know Princesses and how much they like buying things."

Praxina blinked and grabbed his hand as something glittered at her. Big mistake, little brother. "Whoa, what is that?"

Mephisto froze, when she yanked at the hand with the bracelet.  
"Uh. Nothing?" He offered hopefully.

"A snake biting a heart?" She replied after studying it. "Whose idea was this?"

"Um. Hers, she uh. Picked it. After I picked out a new headband for her. She insisted." It was better just to tell her, he couldn't lie to her face about everything.

Praxina frowned at him. "And you picked something out for her, and she for you, and you let this happen?" She smacked his forehead. "Idiot! You're going to catch feelings!"

"N-no I am _not_ , I don't have feelings! There's no risk of me getting feelings, it's not a problem I'm going to have. At all." Okay, so that sounded very fake, but he kind of meant it. He couldn't exactly go _developing_ feelings when he already had them.

"What, and now you're going to use your lying voice with me?!" Praxina crossed her arms. "Come on! I know you better than that. Is that why you don't hit her as hard as you should? Is that why you let her go all the time??"

"I do **not** have a lying voice, Prax _ina_ , what are you talking about? And I don't go easy on her, I just hit the other two harder than I hit her. That's not a crime, I just hate them more." He didn't have a lying voice, what was she talking about? Pshaw.

"You're using it on me right now! And it's not a crime to hate them more, but have you ever considered maybe trying to care about her as a concept a little more? Maybe if you hit her hard enough we'd actually be able to present her to Gramorr."

"It's not _my_ fault our plans don't work past the beginning stages. My plans are even the entire reason we even have one oracle gem. And I have no idea what you're talking about, I _don't_ have a lying voice." He huffed, crossing his arms and glaring to the side.

"It gets higher pitched and you know that! Every time you lie, blah blah BLAH. It's so annoying. Cut it out!"

"My voice is stuck because I've been talking high all day, I'm not using whatever fake thing you think I'm using. I just need a break and maybe some wine and it'll go back to normal." He grumbles, still in his higher register. He hasn't tried to go lower, yet, but usually he accidentally dipped into his normal voice when he wasn't paying attention.

Praxina elbows him as hard as she can in the side, frowning. Maybe that would fix it?

He yelped, and swatted at her a little in retaliation.  
"Ow, what the hell Prax?!" His voice did go back to his natural pitch, though, so maybe it actually did help. He still wasn't going to thank her for jabbing him in the side with her _unnecessarily boney_ elbows.

She snorted. "Finally. It was totally grating." She flipped her hair over her shoulder triumphantly. "Anyways. Do you think you could atleast try to be a little harder on the one princess we actually care about?"

"What do you think **this** plan is about?" He grumbled, and rubbed his side.  
"And anyway, maybe you should listen to me sometime? Maybe then the Princesses won't beat us so often."

"Oh really? Then what's your magnificent overarching plan with this again? Make her care so much that she wants to- we don't know what she is..." Praxina cuts herself off midsentence to frustratedly frown. "Whatever, anyways. Make her want to make babies with you, then steal her away? Lay traps in their home and do whatever? What is your magic plan, little brother?"

"The plan is to make myself an established human, give myself a problem that should score them an oracle gem, and maybe figure out a way to get past the barrier and into their library. We've established the bare bones of this plan, which is all I need. I mentioned a house, today. Tomorrow I can pretend it fell apart or got ransacked or burned down and see if Iris would let some random human live with her for a while." He paused.  
"I should probably wait to spring that on her until her pendant glows."

Praxina hummed, then pointed at the bracelet. "I think she'd take you as is."

He blushed and glanced to the side.  
"I, um. You think so? I don't think she'd... just... no, I should wait."

"Mephisto." Praxina's face returned to its signature pout. "And you said you hadn't caught feelings." She scoffed.

"I do not have feelings, what're you talking about?" He was still blushing, and his voice came out deeper than intended, but he hadn't caught feelings. He was just... embarrassed she assumed. And his feelings were old, but she didn't need to know that.

"And that's your _other_ lying voice!" She wagged her finger. "Ugh. And you want me to believe you? I know everything about your habits."

"I definitely don't have _one_ lying voice, let alone **two**." He sniffed disdainfully, and crossed his arms. He still refused to look her in the eye, mostly because he was starting to feel guilty about hiding his heartsong from her. He couldn't just tell her, obviously, but... it wasn't something he wanted to hide from her forever.

"You're so lying right now! You're even putting on your 'I'm guilty' face!"

He whined a little, and shifted so he was more hugging himself than crossing his arms.  
"I'm not lying, an' 'm not guilty..." he ended up mumbling the last half of the sentence, because he **did** feel guilty. Just... not about what she thought he was guilty about.

Praxina poked his cheek. "Put your face back on already."

He did, puffing his cheeks out in a pout of his own. He didn't stop looking guilty or change how he was holding himself, though.  
"Rude." He muttered under his breath.

 

"Not rude, just not very interested in talking to a fake face with a stupid name. Alan? Were you trying to make yourself sound like an idiot? Alam." she cursed at the end of the sentence and gave an example, in case being on earth had somehow ruined his memory.

"It was the first human name that came to mind." He defended himself, blushing again.  
"Could you have thought of something better in like, the two seconds it took me to pull that out of my ass?"

"Uh- um." Praxina blinked, trying to figure out what an acceptable earth name was. "Penny?"

"Pené, really? Are those all you have on your mind?" He rolled his eyes, huffing.

She frowned at him. "Really? It's not like you did any better!"

"Yeah, but you acted like you could!" He huffed, glaring at her a little.

"Well stop judging! It's not like the humans will know what it means." She pointed out. "But whatever, how soon are you going to act out your little plan? Because Gramorr is impatient and you need to get in there as soon as possible."

"As soon as I can intercept her getting an oracle gem. You can focus on stealing the thing with Percival while I distract Iris with ""Alan"" and his problems. You could even kidnap me to throw suspicion off if Auriana or Talia question me."

"Ooh, yes. I like it." She nodded. "Percival did prove very useful..."

"Exactly. He's been getting pretty antsy, but... honestly it might be in our best interests to try and let the princesses get a bunch of gems, just so they keep holding them out in easy to steal poses."

"Ooh, that does sound good. But don't the gems always appear in easily grabable places anyway? We just have to use Percival more often." Praxina pointed out.

"...sometimes, yeah. You know how to control him, just remind him not to go straight to me with the gem. That'd be hard to explain."

"Yeah, it would. How do I summon him again?" She held out a hand expectantly. "I never had to so I forgot."

"Use your hand circle, and recite the words 'Giorvii Mavea'. He'll show up like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Praxina nodded and opened a hand circle. "Giorvii mavea..." And then Percival appeared, amazingly enough. "Cool. Got it, yes."

Mephisto grinned, and reached out to scritch beneath Percival's chin.  
"Hello again, listen to Praxina for me. Okay?"

Praxina snickered and started petting Percival. "Ooh, he's soft."

Mephisto snorted, and scratched him again.  
"He's mostly shadow, Prax. He's not got any mass back there to be soft."

"Nothingness is totally soft, Mephisto."

"Whatever you say." Mephisto shook his head, and patted Percival.  
"Be a good boy for your aunt, Percy. I'm gonna be busy."

Praxina winked at the monster. "I'm the cool one, no bed times with me."

Percy bobbed excitedly, and swooped over to nuzzle into her hair. Mephisto rolled his eyes, and waved him off.  
"Fine, be swayed by pretty words."

Praxina snorted, an honest smile finding her lips. "I'm easier to like."

Mephisto pouted.  
"You don't have to rub it in."

"Yes I do!" She rolls her eyes.

"You really kind of don't, when everybody already knows." He glanced away again, still pouting.

Praxina punched his shoulder gently. "Aw, cheer up little brother. Maybe one day you'll learn my ways."

He huffed, and swatted at her half-heartedly.  
"Don't hit meeee..." he whined a little, and then paused.  
"Wait. It'd really sell it if ""Alan"" has a bruise or two tomorrow. You should punch me in the face."

"Wait, you're actually going to let me punch you?" She blinked. "And weren't you going to do, like, someone with their house burnt down? Why would someone punch a person who just lost their home?" The question feels like a joke the moment it falls from her tongue and she clenches her fist. "Are you sure about this?"

"It's a disguise, Praxina. I can make the bruise look like it was from falling debris or something, but if I don't actually have a bruise I'm not going to react correctly to it getting prodded." He rolled his eyes, and motioned at his cheek.  
"But c'mon, hit me. I know you want to."

She glanced at him, then at her hand. "Say something stupid and fake first."

"My monsters are more well-behaved than yours." He grins a little, and braces for the punch. It'll hurt, after all.

Praxina frowned at him. "Yes, they are, because you're terrible at being nasty. Say something worse! Lie to me!"

He groaned, and glared at her a little.  
"C'mon. What am I supposed to lie about? My spellwork is better? You're terrible at listening to instructions? What do you want?"

"I don't know! None of that makes me actually angry." She waved at him. "I have to live with all that."

Mephisto groaned and rubbed his temple.  
"Why is it so much easier to piss you off when I _don't_ want you to hit me? Are you being difficult on purpose?!"

Praxina hummed consideringly and shrugged. "Maybe. Just say something outlandish and stupid."

"Uh. Hmm. I'm going to leave you for the Princesses?" He offers, it's the stupidest thing he can think to say, he'd never abandon Praxina, especially for them.

There's a beat of fear and shock on her face, then she slams her fist into his cheek. Maybe it's a bit harder than he'd intended, but it hurt. Praxina whined and shook out her fist. "Don't ever say anything that stupid again."

He ends up bending over backwards from the force for a second or two before standing up straight again. He'd swear his jaw cracked, but he couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears. Ow. He works his jaw for a second, and blinks back a couple of tears.  
"Ow. You know that was a lie, right? Jeez. Were you trying to dislocate my jaw?"

"You asked for a bruise, you've got a bruise." She winced and glanced at her own stinging knuckles. "And so do I. Happy?"

"I'd prefer not to have to set my jaw, but so long as it's not broken I suppose so." He grumbled, still holding his face and working his jaw a little.  
"At least you didn't break my nose."

"Yeah, that would have sucked. For you, and I guess I would've gotten blood all over my dress."

He rolled his eyes at her and mumbled a couple of curses under his breath before switching to Alan's face so he could start figuring out how to make the bruising and other damage done to him look alright. He made a crystal mirror as well, so he didn't have to rely on Praxina's input on what looked alright.

She knew what her brother was doing, but it didn't stop Praxina from leaning into his space to see the mirror, and pointing to a spot on it. "You need more- whatever- here."

He glared a little, and darkens the skin more in that spot.  
"Happy?" He offers, and places a hand over his shoulder, to burn away the fabric of the 'jacket' to reveal the shirt underneath.

"Yes." She nodded, reaching up to muss his hair. "Perfect."

He huffs, smiling despite himself, and smudges some soot across the bruises and into the clothes. Once he's happy with the look- and he burns a chunk of hair off, too, just for aesthetic- he drops the disguise and pouts about his own bruising.

Praxina taps his nose. "No pouting."

He sticks his bottom lip our farther, and huffs again.  
"I'll pout if I want."

"Even if I say not to?" Her eyebrows rise.

"Especially if you say not to." He sticks his tongue out, and pokes her in the chest.  
"You're not the boss of me."

"Of course I am." She crossed her arms. "Who else would take care of you?"

"I can take care of myself. And even if I needed your supervision, that doesn't make you my boss, Praxina." He huffed.

"What makes you think I'm not your boss?" She had to uncross her arms and point at him. "Gramorr totally trusts me more, and Banes likes me better."

Mephisto winced.  
"That's unfair, and you know it."

That did make her feel a bit bad, but it wasn't like she could just apologize. "Whatever, let's just try to make this new plan work. After you get Princess Iris in your fangs, he'll be pleased with both of us."

"Exactly. So we just have to make this work. Good luck in disrupting their getting an oracle gem."

Praxina nods. "And good luck in lying to her. You just have to remember not to catch feelings and this will work perfectly." Praxina wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him into a hug. "So don't catch feelings, okay?"

He rolled his eyes a little, and hugged back.  
"You should have some faith in me, sister. I won't catch feelings. And even if I somehow do, I'm not going to leave you."

"Well don't catch feelings and it won't be an option." It really was that easy, she'd swear.

"I already told you I won't." He huffed, rolling his eyes again.  
"Why don't you trust me?"


End file.
